Arizona woman who faked cancer to get abortion found guilty of scamming veterans

A woman who lied about a cancer diagnosis to get an Arizona state-funded abortion has now been convicted in a fraud case involving a veterans organization.

Maricopa County jurors on Tuesday found Chalice Renee Zeitner, 31, guilty of two counts of fraud schemes, two counts of theft, and one count each of money laundering, identity theft and receiving an item obtained by fraudulent use of a credit card, court records show.

Prosecutors said Zeitner claimed to be a Marine Corps veteran, a race-car driver, and a South African attorney to forge relationships within charities Veterans Hope and Armed Forces Racing, and she used her standing to defraud other groups out of tens of thousands of dollars for a gala she claimed to be planning.

Additionally, prosecutors said, Zeitner had also racked up more than $25,000 in credit-card debt by opening one or more fake accounts using the personal information gleaned from the founder of Veterans Hope and his family. Her sentencing is set for 8:30 a.m. Sept. 8 in Maricopa County Superior Court.

AZCENTRAL
AG: AZ woman faked cancer for late-term abortion

Another jury in April found Zeitner guilty on 11 counts of fraud and forgery from when she faked a cancer diagnosis to receive a taxpayer-funded abortion in 2010.

During that case, Zeitner’s attorney Adam Schwartz told the jury that his client actually had believed she had cancer. Prosecutors said the same obstetrician who performed the 2010 abortion delivered a baby for Zeitner and failed to find signs of her claimed cancer or claimed treatments for the cancer.

Her sentencing in that case will take place 10 a.m. Aug. 12, court records show.